End of 2011

I made it a point to get out on a bicycle today. I wanted to close out a big cycling year with one last ride. The year's bigness came primarily from riding the same few routes back and forth to work, so I made sure my last coupla' outings were fun. And by fun, I mean mountain biking.

The Sweetwater Trails were in fine form, a little eroded since I last rode there in June, but that's to be expected since two rainy seasons have come and gone since then. My legs felt even stronger than they did during my last ride, though it turns out that no amount of antibiotics or recovery time can change the fact that I'm a terrible rider, skills-wise. I let out a few audible gasps and grunts as I overcooked a corner here or hung up a wheel in a rock garden there, but surprisingly, there was nobody around to mock me for my struggles.

You heard that right. On a sunny, cloudless, 76° afternoon in the Sonoran Desert, I had an entire trail network to myself. I guess everyone else was off buying champagne for this evening or something. And on that note, I'll sign off and say Happy New Year to everyone!

XC-mas

I got in a very nice ride on my hardtail 29er this afternoon. It's my newest bike, so I was pretending it was a present. Actually, I felt like I'd just unwrapped a new set of legs, because I had strength like I haven't had in a long time. It turns out that I'm finally on the mend from what's most likely a weeks (or month) old case of walking (pedaling?) pneumonia. Apparently, one's ability to get on and stay atop a gear is adversely affected by having a leaking, pus-filled cavity taking up an appreciable portion of a lung. Having de-biked myself for a couple of weeks after a year of hard-core bike commuting may also have been a factor.

And though an X-mas Day ride isn't exactly a tradition for me, the wearing of my most-festive cycling socks is. They're wool and feature penguins and snowmen wearing Santa hats. This is curious because, as an atheist, I don't believe in any of this stuff. Well, I do believe in wool, just not in being a sheep. Furthermore, as a zoologist, I know that penguins are Antarctic species that don't occur at the North Pole. Oh well. My next confusing bike apparel event will be when I wear my "Happy New Year 2004" socks later this week. Perhaps I'll complete the look by wearing shorts from a team I'm not on and a jersey emblazoned with the logo of a beer I don't drink.

Gray Skies

I woke up this morning to the most dense fog I've ever encountered in Tucson, definitely more than it was 5 years ago, and rivaling even the murk that enveloped (and which contributed to chasing me out of) Sacramento when I lived there.

Beyond the pleasing aesthetics of fog in the desert, I appreciate that it's the result of a couple of days of very much-needed, saturating rains. It's even better that it's happening at the beginning of what's supposed to be a bone-dry, double-dip La Niña winter.

In fact, I'm so grateful for the precipitation that I'm not even going to complain that it, along with the cold, is keeping me from shaking off the chest congestion with which I've been living (but not riding) for a few weeks. On the other hand, if this type of weather manages to ruin much more of my hard-earned winter vacation, well, then you'll hear some real bitching.